a team of experts from leading australian food industry has showed their disagreement for proposed plain packaging of high calorie foods in order to combat obesity. recently, annual australian institute of food science technology aifst convention 46 was held brisbane. there, plain paper packaging for high calorie foods was one of the main debated topics. despite the fact that the panel agreed upon that plain packaging was &ldquoimproper and likely to be useless&rdquo, on the panel speakers did suggested a list of other ideas to attempt the complex issue of obesity. maximize quality of nutrient the panel put forward that all segments of the food industry required moving forwards improving the nutrient quality of foods. vic cherikoff mentioned that the ancient huntergatherer diets were determined by needs and cravings. cherikoff is winner of the 2013 aifst food industry innovation award australian. he further mentioned that they may be in an era of supermarket foraging but still they have biological requirements for certain micro and macronutrients, and antioxidants, as well. mr cherikoff further explained that whenever we eat low nutrient, high calorie foods, there may be a danger that we might be overeating in attempt to fulfill the nutritional needs. hence, people must eat highly nutrient content of foods &ndash both those at farm gate and processed&ndash to fulfill the needs and decrease the risk of overeating. greater diversity diversifying diets of consumers was also one of the suggested things to reduce levels of obesity and improve diets. peter schutz mentioned that they have to encourage and develop people to eat a bigger variety of foods. peter schutz is a chairperson of the innovation precinct for the australian department of climate change, innovation and industry. peter highlighted that around 8 percent of the calories we intake come from just eight sugar, cereals and four tubers. regulation that determines innovation vijay rajendram, who is the ceo of research and development segment at neptune bioinnovations, welcomed the recent launch of &lsquohealth star&rsquo, the frontofpack health star system of labeling. mr rajendram further mentioned that this new frontofpack star labeling system is a great instance of an idea that will drive industry to create innovative solutions for nutritious, high quality food products. education panelists also drew attention to a decline in cooking skills as a reason to increasing levels of obesity, and recommended betterment in education in this field would be helpful. professor sandra capra, who is a dietitian from the queensland university, mentioned that, regardless of the increase of the chef celebrity, they are observing a deskilling in cooking. sandra further mentioned that it&rsquos led to a worldwide separate with food, inadequate knowledge or what&rsquos in a plate and the quantity we should be consuming. she further said that we urgently need to improve education about food. investing in the future panelists also asked for better investment in tertiary education associated to the food industry. the industry requires putting more investment into the field of tertiary education to make sure universities of australia are developing the graduates as per the needs of the food industry to force the innovation which will tackle australia&rsquos potential food issues, including obesity, mentioned james thomas who is from kelly scientific resources. working jointly few of the panelists also suggested that the duty for changing food behaviors belonged to every person, including parents, health professionals, individuals, government and industry. wayne hammermeister, is the managing director of fmcg executive services. wayne mentioned that the customer is the only one that can make choices at the individual level. wayne continued that the food industry has to make sure the customer understands the decisions they are taking, and government and health professionals have to play a major role in guiding those decisions. source of information httpwww.ausfoodnews.com.au20130722australianfoodindustryexpertsdismisse2809…
